Mindy, Age Nine
by Racerette
Summary: Mindy is nine and a half years old, and her best friend in the world, Buttons, is dying of old age.
1. Chapter 1

_**Animaniacs/ Buttons and Mindy is owned by Warner Brothers. I own nothing.**_

_I was looking around the Animaniacs section the other day, wondering if all the stories in this section were only about the Warners. As it turns out, there are only two Buttons and Mindy stories, and neither one of them is a chapter story. So, call me a pioneer. I might throw the Warner's in at some point, but for now, they don't really have a place. I picture this story having seven or eight chapters, if it gets good reviews. I hope you enjoy this first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it._

It was a Sunday afternoon in the middle of May. Mindy, now aged nine and a half, had some flowers in her hand and walked over to the veterinary clinic. Today was Sunday; after all, it was the day to go see her friend.

As she walked over, she knew what was going to happen. The vet was going to tell her that it would be best just to put down her dog, rather than praying for him to heal. Mindy had never believed a word of it. She was going to see her friend until he regained his health, and eventually grew into the same dog he had once been.

"Hello, Mindy." said the receptionist with little emotion. She didn't even look up from the computer.

"Hi, I'm here to check on-"

"Buttons, yes, have a seat; I'll let the vet know you're here."

Mindy walked over to her usual seat underneath the clock and right next to the bookcase. She liked to read. However, no book in the world could pass time fast enough. She was always anxious to see Buttons on Sunday afternoons. Mindy would have stayed over all summer, if she was allowed.

"Alright, Mindy, come on in." the vet rolled his eyes. It was clear that nobody on the staff liked having Mindy around once a week, but she was here to see Buttons, not the vets and the nurses and the receptionists.

"Hi Buttons." she said softly upon seeing her dog. His face seemed to light up as she walked in. "You'll be better in no time, at this rate. Why, you can lift your head up this week, maybe this time next week you could be standing up, walking even."

"Don't get your hopes up, Mindy." said the vet, bluntly. "If he doesn't get better soon, he's not getting better at all."

"Well, don't talk that way about him when he's right here." Mindy said angrily, covering Buttons ears.

"He's deaf. He couldn't hear anyway." the vet mumbled as he closed the door behind him as he walked out. Mindy sighed.

"Don't you listen to him, Butt. You'll get better, you've gotta survive, you just gotta! You're going to be my maid of honor when I get married." Buttons barley opened his eyes. He didn't have much strength left in him, but he always tried to perk up around Mindy.

"I brought you these." She said as she put the flowers in the large pile of dead weeds on the counter besides him. She had brought violets every week ever since Buttons had come to the clinic, dandelions since he had his heart attack, and roses ever since he had his seizure. The pile grew every week. In the full year since Buttons had been here, she had never missed one flower.

For hours, Mindy talked about her school, her future wedding, and anything else that she felt that Buttons needed to know. Buttons, although he couldn't hear much, smiled and slowly nodded as Mindy talked. He was always happy when Mindy had shown up to the clinic unharmed and happy.

"You know, Butt, I just know you are going to get better." Mindy petted Buttons, she was well into her fifth hour talking. "You can follow me to school again, and chase all the cats. You can run through the sunflower patch at the park, I know you love running, and you can have all the dog treats you want. We don't have to tell Lady." Buttons gave a small laugh that slowly turned into a cough.

"Alright, Mindy, you have to go now, Buttons needs his sleep." the receptionist barged in. Mindy slowly nodded as she turned to her old friend. He looked sad. He wanted to follow her home; she could see it in his eyes. He wanted to run through the sunflower patch and chase all the cats.

"Don't be sad, Butt, I'll come again next week." Mindy had always had those hopeful blue eyes. "It's not goodbye forever. If you need me, just call, I'll be here before you know it." she wiped a tear away from Buttons' eye as she followed the receptionist out. Buttons waved his paw slowly, but quickly collapsed from exhaustion.

"And make sure he's getting all the food he needs." Mindy advised the receptionist. "Take extra special care of him. He's a very good dog, the best in the world. He's a champion."

"Yes, yes, don't worry, Buttons will be just fine here." the receptionist pushed Mindy out the door and locked it behind her.

"I don't like those people." Mindy mumbled to herself as she walked along the dark sidewalk, only lit by a few overhead street lights. "I bet they are real mean to Ol' Butt when I'm not around. I bet they don't feed him the kind of food he likes, or brush him with the right comb, or give him a bath every month like I used to do."

The air was cold, and there was still a half a mile to walk to the house. If there was one thing Mindy hated more than the people at the clinic, it was walking home alone at Nine O'clock at night.

"Mindy, hey, Mindy!" somebody yelled. Mindy turned around, hoping it was the receptionist coming to tell her something about Buttons. It was just her friend Lukas, calling out from his bedroom window.

"Lukas, don't do that!" Mindy yelled back as she walked up to the window.

"Sorry, anyway, I'm sorry about your Butt." said Lukas. "Your dog, I mean. I'm real sorry about your dog."

"Oh, yeah, Buttons is a real good dog. The best mutt in the world." Mindy said.

"You know, my dog is going to have puppies in a week or two. When their born, you can have one." Lukas automatically knew he had said something wrong just by looking at Mindy's facial expressions.

"Sorry, I don't think Buttons would appreciate it much if I took a puppy. It would be like I was giving up faith in him."

"But really, Mindy, what are the odds that Butt-"

"He's going to live through it, Lukas." Mindy interrupted. There was an awkward pause for a minute.

"Say, my mom could drive you home, if you want." said Lukas, sympathetically. A ride home was always his way of apologizing.

"No thanks, I can walk." Mindy started to walk away from the window. She hated the way that car smelled. Lukas's family was smokers. Every time she inhaled, it felt like she had ate twenty cigarette butts.

"At least let me ride you home. You could sit onthe handlebars of my bike." Lukas called out.

"Yeah, Ok." Mindy reluctantly agreed. She figured an uncomfortable ride on the handlebars of a bike would at least get her home faster. And it was easier to breathe fresh air than it was to breathe in a smoker's car.

The thing about riding on handlebars was that it was pretty hard to balance; especially when the person pedaling decides to try and pop a wheelie every five feet.

"Would you cut that out!" said Mindy. She was thankful she had worn her overalls that day as opposed to the dress she had planned to wear.

"I'm trying to break a world record!" Lukas panted. He was pedaling the bike as hard as he could. As far back as Mindy could remember, Lukas had always wanted to break a world record. He had previously tried to have the world's biggest at-home snake collection, but that turned into a complete neighborhood fiasco.

Lukas stopped the bike by Mindy's house just when she didn't think she could take anymore. She jumped off the handlebars just as the bike came to a complete stop.

"You aren't any fun, you know that?" said Lukas. He raced off before Mindy could reply.

"Boys. I'll never understand them." Mindy said to herself as she walked to the front door. Lady and Mr. Man weren't home yet from their neighborhood meeting. It wasn't a shock, they were never home. Mindy saw them maybe twice a week at the most, and that was only on a not-busy week. As she sat down on the sofa, she stared at a picture on the wall. It was of her and Buttons. It had been taken when she was a toddler. She couldn't believe how healthy Buttons was, or how young she used to be. She didn't remember much from her toddlerhood, but of the faded memories she did have, she couldn't remember her parents at all. She remembered Buttons, and always getting into trouble, and Buttons never getting a treat when he deserved it.

"Buttons is more than just a dog." Mindy said, grabbing the picture off the wall and looking at it more closely. "He's my best friend. He's the best friend I'll ever have."


	2. Chapter 2

_Whoa, sorry for the wait everybody, I've been busy lately. As terrified as I am about most of you people, I figure I might as well do what I said I was going to do and write a second chapter. If you flame, I'll ignore you. If you provide constructive criticism, I'll thank you. If you post an "OMG that was AMAZING" type of post, I'll ignore you. Everybody got that?_

_Anyways, here's that chapter 2 I promised. Hope you like it, because I had a lot of fun writing it!_

"Mindy, Mindy!" Lady shook her daughter awake. Mindy opened her eyes to discover that she was still clutching the picture frame tightly to her chest, and had dried tears on her face and around her eyes.

"Lady?" Mindy said sleepily, struggling to hold her head up. It was still dark out, as she could see through the window. "What time is it? Is Butt alright?"

"Oh, would you quit worrying about that stupid mutt for three seconds." said Lady, releasing her grip from Mindy's shoulders. She took a deep breath, and returned back to her at-home-mother-from –the-fifties voice. "Your father and I are leaving for the airport. The babysitter will be here soon, I want you to be a good little girl, ok?"

"Yes, Lady maim." Mindy said obediently. She slowly set the picture frame down on the sofa beside her as she sat up.

Mindy knew there was no babysitter. There never was. Back a few years ago, Lady and Mr. Man started taking various luxurious trips without her presence. Lady used to say there was a babysitter so Mindy wouldn't overreact. When the supposed "babysitter" wouldn't show up, Lady would lie again and say something about how they got stuck in traffic and just gave up on the whole idea. Mindy knew the routine well. It used to be that Buttons would have to comfort her, but after Button's age hit him, she couldn't turn there anymore, unless Lady was kind enough to leave on a Sunday.

"What a good girl you are." Lady patted Mindy on the head, messing up her short blond hair. "You need a haircut again. We'll take care of that once me and your father get back." Just then, they heard a car horn honk loudly. It was unmistakable; it was Mr. Man's car.

"I'll be getting on my way then." Lady smiled as she pranced over to the front door. "I love you, Mindy."

"I love you to, Lady." Mindy said back, looking her mother straight in the eye to know that she meant it. Lady blew a kiss as she closed the door behind her. Mindy waited for the sound of the key locking before she moved.

"I love you, momma. I really do." Mindy looked at her feet. "I wish you were still here. Too bad you had to leave your brain at that bar a few years ago."

She quickly slapped herself out of it and walked over to the other side of the living room and hung the picture frame, which now had a small crack in it from her holding it through the night, and stared at it. After a few minutes, she put her left hand over Buttons and her right hand over her heart.

"I will see you like this again. I promise." She said, seriously. Her eyes fixed on the photograph. "And we'll run through the sunflowers, and chase all the cats, and play fetch, and I'll even run and let you catch me. But I will see you like this again."

She took a deep breath and lowered her hand off the glass. She looked away quickly, so she could distract herself before she got carried away and turned this happy moment into a sad one. The closest thing she could look at was the window, which had gone from pitch black to having a vague outline of a sunrise.

"I'd better wake up Lukas now. He'll sleep all day if I don't." she smiled at the thought of having her friend around. She liked Lukas, she liked him a lot. Buttons liked him too, she knew. The three of them used to play together all the time on the playground.

Mindy ran out the door with a sudden burst of excitement, she was going to have fun with her friend, her best friend, she decided. It didn't matter that she was wearing the same clothes she was yesterday; she was going to have a great day now that her friend was in such close reach.

She ran down half of the street, and then proceeded to dance the other half.

"Now, the drop dead gorgeous ballerina Mindy will do her world famous ballet of the flamingos while singing her rendition of 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow'. As you all know, it topped the charts in every country and island in the world! And that includes Hollywood!" she narrated to herself as she performed a random series of movements down the sidewalk. Although she sang her song slow, she moved with rapid flapping of her arms and was jumping up and down on one foot. She "preformed" her way to the front of Lukas's bedroom window and tapped on the glass.

"Lukas, dah-ling, your talented and extremely beautiful best friend has arrived." She said. Lukas continued to snore peacefully on the other side of the window.

"Hey, Jack, Wake Up!" Mindy hollered, banging her fists on the Windowpane. "I'm Here!"

Lukas walked to the window like a zombie. He unlocked the glass and lifted it up.

"Come on, get dressed! It's playtime!" Mindy said cheerfully. She lifted reached over to his side and lifted his eyelids up. "Hello, did you hear me? It's playtime!"

"I don't wanna play, I had a dream where I was about to meet Spider-Man!" He pushed Mindy's hands away from his face. "Go away."

"Aw, come on now, Lukey." Mindy climbed in the window and landed in Lukas's room. "Don't be a sourpuss. Now let's pick out an outfit for you to wear." she headed over to his closet and digged through a few rows of clothes.

"Mindy, don't! I just-"

"Alright, overalls to match mine, check." She hung the overalls over her arm.

"Don't-"

"A T-shirt to match mine, check."

"Mindy, go a-"

"Light up tennis shoes, check."

"Mindy, my sister was crying half the night, let me sleep for a few more hours, ok?" Lukas finally managed to get a sentence out.

"Your baby sister Elsie, that's right!" Mindy dropped the clothes she was carrying in a loss of interest. "Can we go see her? She sleeps in the living room, right?"

"Right, but Mindy-"

"Come on, she won't stay a baby forever, she might grow up before we get there, come on, let's go!" Mindy jerked Lukas's arm and ran through the hallway. She was quiet upon entering the living room, however.

"Now, babies are known for turning into demons when they awaken." Mindy whispered as she tiptoed dramatically through the living room.

"What, no they're not! Lukas whispered fiercely. "I've had two baby brothers before this, and not one of them has been a demon until they turn two!"

"Think about it, Luke, they scream, they turn red, and they make everyone around them go insane. I should know, I had a baby brother once." Mindy carefully peaked over the playpen netting to see Elsie. "Look how precious! Oh Lukas, she looks just like you!"

"Yeah, now go back to my room." said Lukas, annoyed. "There's a nice big window for you just waiting to climb back out."

"Lukas, you're funny." Mindy said as she gently punched Lukas on the arm. "But look at Elsie, she's beauty-full! And she has blond hair, the most magical of all the hair colors!" she stroked Elsie's tuff of beach blond hair.

"Mindy, don't!" Lukas tugged at Mindy's arm. "You'll wake her!"

"Tish tosh, don't be silly. I'm as gentle as fairies godmother here to grant the sleeping beauty her wish."

"You've got your fairytales mixed up."

"Baby Elsie, I'm here to tell you the story of Buttons, your uncle. He's a little sick right now, but he'll be here to meet you by the time you start walking." Mindy leaned over the playpen netting and continued to stroke Elsie's hair. "When I was your age, I got a dog. I turned one months old, it was a pretty big deal to Mr. Man and Lady back in those days. I was just sleeping in my crib minding my own business, when suddenly, a big brown and white puppy jumped on me. I was scared, naturally. I hollered for Lady and Mr. Man. But they both came in and said, 'no, Mindy, this is your puppy. You mustn't be afraid of your own puppy, what will neighbors say?' so I turned and hugged the dog, and I said to him, 'I'm going to name you Buttons, because nobody is naming their dog Buttons anymore' and then I wasn't scared of him anymore ever, and we became best friends. You're brother's dog, Sissy, is having puppies soon, and you'll get a puppy of your very own! You can name him whatever you want, and he'll never leave you. Ever. Never ever."

Elsie then opened her eyes, which were revealed now to be a deep blackish color, and gave Mindy a big smile.

"Luke, she likes me! Did you see!" Mindy stood straight up and jumped up and down. "She smiled at me! She smiled at me!"

"She smiles at everyone, it's a gas problem!" Lukas argued, forgetting to keep his voice down.

"Gas doesn't make a person smile like that!" Mindy smiled, still ecstatic. "I made a new friend today!"

"She smiles at everybody, watch!" Lukas looked over the netting and smiled so big that is was almost too creepy for Mindy to comprehend, let alone a baby. Elsie then let out the loudest, ear piercing cry that Mindy had ever heard from anyone. And she had been there when Mr. Man accidentally ran over Button's tale with a forklift.

"Yeah, she really does smile at everybody, huh." Mindy smirked with her hands over her ears. "It's too loud for me here, do you wanna go play now?"

Lukas shrugged and followed Mindy out the front door. It didn't matter that he was still in his pajamas from the night before, he just wanted to get out of that house before his mom stormed in asking who woke Elsie up.

_Chapter 3 may or may not come faster than Chapter 2 did. With my crazy schedule, or what little there is of one, you never know. Please review, I look forward to your flame letters!_


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